Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2014
Penfolds
Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2014
Penfolds
Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2014
Overview
Overview
Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay has evolved into a wine that is now a distinctive, single-region style in its own right, with a contemporary and distinctive Adelaide Hills Chardonnay persona. All fruit is hand-picked into small bins and then whole-bunch pressed. The juice is incrementally filled to barrel directly from the press and allowed to undergo a natural fermentation, sans inoculation. Every new and seasoned French oak barrique is its own unique 225-litre ferment. Enhanced mouthfeel and complexity is achieved by fermenting on solids, 100% malolactic fermentation (all natural).
| Varietal | Chardonnay |
|---|---|
| Vintage | 2014 |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Adelaide Hills |
| Volume | 750 mL |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
| Alc/Vol | 12.5% |
| Peak Drinking | Enjoy Now |
| Winemaker | The Penfolds Team |
Awards and Accolades
Awards and Accolades
| 97 points | James Halliday |
| 92 points | Huon Hooke |
| 2 Trophies | 2016 International Wine Challenge |
| Trophy | 2015 Adelaide Hills Wine Show |
| Gold | 2016 International Wine Challenge |
| Gold | 2015 The National Wine Show of Australia |
| Gold | 2016 Decanter World Wine Awards |
| Gold | 2015 Adelaide Hills Wine Show |
| Gold | 2015 Perth Royal Wine Show |
James Halliday
"Hand-picked and pressed straight to French barriques (82% new) for wild fermentation and 9 months maturation. The impact of the bouquet is immediate and multifaceted, with a perfectly judged touch of struck match/flint. The palate takes the wine onto another plane altogether, with imperious drive and tenacity to its unsweetened grapefruit and white peach flavours."
Huon Hooke
"Light to medium yellow hue with a nutty, smoky oak-tinged bouquet. The palate is firm and dry, intense and tightly packed, not really flowering yet and seems to be withholding a lot. There is a touch of richness and good persistence. It has potential."
Food Pairing
Food Pairing
Beef
Chicken
Fish
Seafood
Pork
Cheese
Pasta
Veg
Taste Description
Taste Description
Nose
Powerfully aromatic – grapefruit, quince, fresh linen and evocative scented candle wax aromas confidently ascend. Ensuing, a savoury edge commensurate from this blend’s time in barrique on lees – non-cured cold meats and almond meal. And to sign-off, an ever-so-slight scent of rock flint.
Flavours and Palate
Definitive Adelaide Hills fruited traits – stone fruit, white peach and nectarine. A fluffy peach-skin texture leading to a powdery acid finish. Compliant oak plays a supporting role, in no way either protruding nor detracting. Acidity is both balanced and focused – offering great drive across the palate.
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
The Adelaide Hills is one of Australia’s younger wine regions, but it’s as savvy as its famous Sauv Blanc. With a cool climate and high altitude, its dynamic winemakers are also responsible for top notch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Vintage Conditions
Above-average winter rainfalls replenished Adelaide Hills soil profiles for the start of the 2014 growing season. Spring rainfall was below the long-term average and cool weather allowed for an extended flowering period. A significant rainfall event in mid-February had minimal impact, simply slowing harvest and drier/milder conditions. This then ensured balanced flavour development, fruit exhibiting a brightness endowed with crisp acid retention and impressive fruit quality.
The Penfolds Team
Key to the success of Penfolds has been a lineage of visionary winemakers. There have only ever been four Chief Winemakers at the helm of Penfolds – Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago, each a custodian of a rich winemaking tradition that goes back for more than 170 years.
Our current Penfolds winemaking team has more than 100 years between them as Penfolds winemakers. They are constantly refining and improving their work, whilst honouring the winemaking techniques of their predecessors.